Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target Cut to $500.00

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its target price cut by Guggenheim from $520.00 to $500.00 in a report published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the social networking company’s stock.

META has been the topic of several other reports. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $500.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $527.00 to $588.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $500.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $562.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $470.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $509.18.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.4 %

META opened at $443.29 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $1.13 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.46, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Meta Platforms has a 12 month low of $229.85 and a 12 month high of $531.49. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $494.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $405.39.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.32 by $0.39. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 32.03% and a net margin of 32.06%. The firm had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.28 billion. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 20.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $393.85, for a total transaction of $7,751,361.85. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.25, for a total value of $287,381.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 37,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,288,255. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $393.85, for a total value of $7,751,361.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,277,048 shares of company stock valued at $620,679,759 over the last quarter. 13.75% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Stone House Investment Management LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 625.0% in the third quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 87 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the first quarter worth approximately $44,000. Clear Investment Research LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 411.1% in the fourth quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 92 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the period. Finally, Gilfoyle & Co LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

About Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms, Inc engages in the development of products that enable people to connect and share with friends and family through mobile devices, personal computers, virtual reality headsets, and wearables worldwide. It operates in two segments, Family of Apps and Reality Labs. The Family of Apps segment offers Facebook, which enables people to share, discuss, discover, and connect with interests; Instagram, a community for sharing photos, videos, and private messages, as well as feed, stories, reels, video, live, and shops; Messenger, a messaging application for people to connect with friends, family, communities, and businesses across platforms and devices through text, audio, and video calls; and WhatsApp, a messaging application that is used by people and businesses to communicate and transact privately.